A woman who fears the Lord.... (part 2)

Yesterday's post was getting TOO long so I had to cut it into 2.  Make sure you read it though or today will make NO sense at all.

Soooooo, one day last week, I was putting Hannah down for a nap. As she and I snuggled in my bed, I gazed into her beautiful face... those criss-crossed eyes, that flawless skin, that GORGEOUS smile that lights up my world (even though it is missing a baby tooth), and that itty, bitty nose that it OH SO MUCH cuter on her face than mine... They melt me!  COMPLETELY!  ALL the time!

So I started the routine:

      Me (gazing upon the beauty of her loveliness):  OhmiGOSH Hannah!  You are just SOOOOOOO adorable!

     Hannah (with a giggle):  I know Momma!  

     Me:  I could just gobble you up you're so cute!

     Hannah:  hee hee hee (at this point I was gnawing on her neck a little so she HAD to giggle)

     Me:  But Hannah, you know that's not what's important right?

     Hannah:  yes Momma

     Me:  Hannah, what does the Bible say?

     Hannah:  Beauty is fleeting and charm is deceptive but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised 

And it HIT ME!  From outta nowhere!  a KNOCKOUT punch delivered from the mouth of my sweet little girl!

     Beauty is fleeting and charm is deceptive but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised 

I heard the whisper from God, "Do you believe it, Jami?"

His voice grew a little louder in my heart, "Then why don't you live it, Jami?"

SCREAMING through the halls of my soul, "A WOMAN WHO FEARS THE LORD IS TO BE PRAISED!"

I believe that!

I preach that!

I am INSTILLING that, DEEP, DEEP in my daughter's heart, but am I living it???

If I'm living it, then why...

     do I beat myself up every time I button my jeans?

     do I cringe every time I find a new wrinkle?

     do I roll my eyes at the sight of a new gray hair?

     do I put SO much emphasis on SO many things that just DON'T matter in the grand scheme of things???
          spotless kitchen,
          perfectly attired children,
          orderly life,
          picture perfect scenes

I needed so badly to hear my Father teaching me, 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

Do you need to hear that today too?  Then let me SCREAM it at you:

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

I know you want to feel beautiful.  I know how great it feels!  Sunday as we got ready to go to the Super Bowl, I put on makeup and did my hair.  John said, "Why are you getting all dolled up to go watch a football game?"  I replied, "It just makes me feel good."  Feeling pretty is fun... 

     Me:  But Readers, you know that's not what's important right?  RIGHT???

a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised

a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised

A WOMAN WHO FEARS THE LORD IS TO BE PRAISED!

Get your eyes off the mirror!  Who cares about your jean size! Leave those gray hairs RIGHT where they are!  And chant it along with me:

A WOMAN WHO FEARS THE LORD IS TO BE PRAISED!

Spend a little time "prettying" up what is important today, your soul.  Take a few minutes from your grooming routine and love on your Jesus a little bit.  It is WAY more worthwhile than plucking your eyebrows!

A woman who fears the Lord.... (part 1)

For those of you who weren't along for the entire ride, I'm going to back up and start somewhat near the beginning... 

I was never really a GIRLY girl, but I have been a cheerleader from the moment I was born.  Mom says when I was a baby she prayed a little too hard because not only did I "make the team" but here I am 41 years later and not quite done with this thing called cheerleading. Sooooo it was kinda "off" that by 2005 it appeared I would likely be a lifetime member of the M.O.A.B. Club (Mothers of All Boys)....  I mean it isn't that boys can't do cheerleading but STILL I couldn't imagine life without at least a few bows and one set of real pom poms.  

May 4, 2006, a day that shall go down in infamy. The SCREAMS echoed from Froedtert Hospital to the halls of Franklin High School, "It's a girl!"  I'm not sure who was most excited:  my mom?  the FHS cheerleaders?  me?

Fast forward four years, nine months and four days and WOWZER!  has that little girl been everything that was promised and SO MUCH MORE!  Hannah is the PERFECT kinda girl for this family:  tough as nails!!!! [last night the Peifer family stared in amazement at that girl's diamond pushups] sweet as sugar!!!!  [how many times have I picked her up from a church nursery to hear, "She followed a crying baby around the entire time trying to comfort him."] and OH the bows and pom poms!  [we have an ENTIRE basket of bows and a rainbow of pom poms]  I often marvel at the fact that God didn't just give me a girl, bows and pom poms, someone to wear a cheer skirt, but He gave me a BEAUTIFUL girl!  I tell this little girl ALL the time, "You are SO beautiful!"  I mean COME on!  She is!!!! 

Isn't she???

Someone once asked me, "Aren't you worried you'll make her conceited from telling her she's beautiful all the time?"  You know what I answered??? NOPE!  This world with it's fashion magazines, skinny jeans, and unobtainably flawless skin is gonna knock that little girl down soon enough!  I'm considering it my mission to make sure that I build her up EVERY SINGLE DAY so she feels beautiful.

Alas before you worry that I am creating a hopelessly vain girl... before you fear that we too highly value outer beauty around here...  let me get around to the point of this blog...

Ever since this BEAUTIFUL little girl has been able to talk, she has known this verse by heart, 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

Our routine goes something like this:

     Me (gazing upon the beauty of her loveliness):  OhmiGOSH Hannah!  You are just SOOOOOOO adorable!

     Hannah (with a giggle):  I know Momma!  

     Me:  I could just gobble you up you're so cute!

     Hannah:  hee hee hee (at this point I'm usually gnawing on her arm or cheek or neck a little so she HAS to giggle)

     Me:  But Hannah, you know that's not what's important right?

     Hannah:  yes Momma

     Me:  Hannah, what does the Bible say?

     Hannah:  Beauty is fleeting and charm is deceptive but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised (sorry but when she was two years old we somehow got the order wrong and she just can't seem to switch it around to literally correct)

     Me:  That's right, baby.  The important thing is that you have Jesus in your heart and love Him ALWAYS!

See I know that every little girl, every single woman, wants to feel beautiful.  It's just something that is wired into us.  And I want MY little girl to have that need fulfilled.  I don't want her to grow up thinking she is too fat, too short, too pimply, too, too, too! BUT so much more than that, I want her to know DEEP IN HER HEART, that in the end, that is NOT what really TRULY matters...

a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Blessed are the peacemakers...

Elijah HATES covers. I'm not sure why, but more than once this hatred has caused me a loss of sleep. It did again last night. I awoke shivering and realized I had NO covers on me. I sat up found my covers and pulled them up to my chin, but almost instantly he started whining and kicked them back off. Too tired to fight him to return to his OWN BED or STOP kicking my covers off, I just got up and stumbled off to find an empty bed in our house to sleep in.

As I picked up my phone (which is my alarm), I noticed my indicator light was blinking red. What I found waiting for me was a VICIOUS comment about my blog on Hannah Montana. It was vicious to me (called me a "liberal sinner posing as a Christian") and vicious to Hannah Montana (called her an "abomination"). I rejected the comment, but its words kept swirling around in my head.

What to do? What to do? The comment was RIDICULOUSLY confrontational; therefore, it included an e-mail address in case I wanted to debate. I could reply, "Did you even read this blog before you blasted me and Hannah Montana?" or I could simply reply with scripture, "And over all these virtues put on love...." (Colossians 3:14) However, in the end I chose to take the wise advice of my 16-year old cousin (as professed through her Facebook status just yesterday), "Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction." (Alex Lawson... who may have pirated it from someone else but who cares? for my purposes she gets the credit.)

I decided not to reply, but the whole experience got me thinking... Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9 SEVERAL situations I am facing right now came to my mind, and as I thought through each of them in the context of this verse I realized.... The best choice is always to try to make peace.

"But Jami," you say, "you have NOT met my _______________ (fill in the blank as you see fit: mother, friend Mildred, husband, neighbor). He/She is IMPOSSIBLE to make peace with." I say to you, "PSHAW!" Peace is ALWAYS possible. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Say nothing. When someone says something confrontational to you, when someone tries to pick a fight with you, when someone attacks you, it is very wise to remain silent. When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. (Proverbs 10:19) Sometimes the best way to "fight back" is to say NOTHING! My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (James 1:19) You do not HAVE to even reply when someone tries to bait you into an argument or simply says something negative or rude to you.

2. Respond with scripture. If you absolutely MUST respond to a confrontational person or in a confrontational situation, the safest avenue may be to respond with scripture. Recently I was in a VERY painful situation. I was leery of even well-meaning people's misplaced comments. Wisely assessing how difficult the situation was, my mother responded with an e-mail that contained nothing but scripture. It was the BEST response she could have given. DISCLAIMER: you canNOT respond with divisive scripture planned to defensively get back at the person. Choose scriptures about peace, love, and prayer instead.

So there you go.... I am choosing not to fight back (I guess I'm not TRULY choosing silence as I did blog about it, but I am not responding to the outlandish and vicious attacks in that comment.) I am claiming (and standing upon) this promise:

Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:18)